Peggy
Raker
Is there a sound? If there is I have never heard it. I tell you, I am not deaf, I can hear the
chopper. And I can feel the entire building
shudder as it sets down on the roof. Do
I hear ‘Let’s go’ or do I just know
instinctively? If stretcher wheels on tile make noise I
wouldn’t know since I am usually on the phone with blood bank. Frightened eyes look up at me while I tell
them to hold on tight as they go off to sleep.
The noise can be maddening as everyone hits their mark; sometimes, from
the vortex they will ask, ‘Am I going to die?’
No one answers but you bet we all hear the question. I guess somebody says they will prep and I
guess somebody says they will scrub but I don’t always hear; in times past we
have cut without both. When we are really moving, there is no discussion at all
about anything; we all know what needs doing. Sometimes a bad situation turns
worse, urgency reaches another level and we all become more determined because
none of us wants to loose anyone, ever.
I know I am not deaf; I have heard the roar of a hurricane; I know the
sound of something blowing up; I have heard a gun shot. I wonder why I never hear a sound when the life
runs out onto our shoes and all over the floor.